My Vision Test

A free modern Amsler Grid test for Macular Degeneration

MyVisionTest News Archive

Jun 13, 2008

Team Macular Degeneration competes in Race Across AmericaBo Webster, the 64-year-old Odessa resident has excelled in football, track and field, rugby, tennis, and swimming. But he has found a niche in marathons and triathlons, grueling races that test will more than skill.

Webster and the other three members of Team Macular Degeneration, Jim DeLuca, 41, Bob Ebert, 52, and Brian Wilder, 57, will attempt to bike all the way to Annapolis, Md., a span of more than 3,000 miles, beginning Wednesday in the allotted time of nine days. In order to win the 14-team relay event, it will likely take a time between five and six days.

Their journey will take them through 14 states and outposts like Flagstaff, Ariz., Durango, Colo., Clayton, N.M., Fort Scott, Kan., Jefferson City, Mo., Bloomington, Ind., and Grafton, W. Va., before arriving on the City Dock in Annapolis.

For the entire team, as well as their 10-person support staff, it is a daunting task and an entirely new experience.

"This is certainly different, unbelievable, really, and crazy, too," said Webster, a retired chemical engineer. "Just the fact that each member of the team will probably ride 100 to 110 miles a day for seven consecutive days, it's going to be tough. But I think we'll finish and we'll finish in the middle of the group of 14 teams."

The general plan is to have each member ride a six-hour shift each day, while the others rest and eat inside an RV, which will accompany the team. But certain riders will be called upon to do the uphill and downhill routes.

As their team name states, the group is racing to support macular degeneration, a medical condition affecting central vision primarily in elderly adults. The team is taking donations through a Web site, www.eyesight.org. Clicking on the team picture will lead to a donations page.